Growth & Development

A new growth blueprint San Diego officials are proposing would transform the northeast corner of Pacific Beach from an auto-oriented commercial corridor into a dense residential village surrounding the new Balboa Avenue trolley station. The plan, which the City Council is expected to consider this...

Target has a signed a lease to take over the empty storefront formerly occupied by Kmart at 935 Sweetwater Road in Spring Valley. The retailer said last week that it expects to open a small-format store at the location in 2020 as part of its push into areas where full-size Targets don’t pencil...

Everyone agrees, Horton Plaza is dead. Whether or not the center’s postmodern essence should live on for the sake of posterity, however, is a matter that’s creating animus between historians, city staffers and the plaza’s new owner, Stockdale Capital Partners. In recent weeks, esteemed members...

The glossy movie, dining and entertainment complex known as Theatre Box opened its doors to the public Tuesday in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter. A remake of the former Pacific and Reading cinema building at 701 Fifth Ave., Theatre Box is a 73,000 square-foot, celebrity-infused venue with eateries...

A measure asking voters countywide to repeal the Board of Supervisors’ approval of the Newland Sierra housing development in North County will appear on the March 3, 2020, ballot, it was decided Tuesday. The supervisors, faced with only two options, voted to place the “No on Newland Sierra and...

With bankruptcies more common than successful exits, some might say San Diego’s craft beer scene is tapped out. It’s certainly not the right climate to launch an all-new beer brand with an expansive (and expensive) tasting room at Carmel Valley’s also all-new One Paseo development. Or is it? Josh...

An ambitious plan by a local church to renovate the long-abandoned Ritz movie theater on Grand Avenue in downtown was unanimously and enthusiastically approved Tuesday by the Escondido City Council. “The Grand” project will convert the 80-year-old theater, which has been vacant for 15 years, into...

The Department of Motor Vehicles this week suspended efforts to replace its Hillcrest field office with a newer and slightly larger building. Instead, the agency, responding to community opposition around the design and lack of housing, will take another look at how to redevelop the property. Built...

More Growth & Development

The entitlements for a proposed low-income housing development — at the northeastern corner of Hilltop Drive and Euclid Avenue in Encanto — received unanimous approval from City Council members on Monday. That leaves money and a legal challenge the remaining items left to be settled before developer...

In a recent sale, the owner of an 82,000 square-foot life science building at 10222 Barnes Canyon, in the heart of Sorrento Mesa, got more than triple what it paid for the property just two years prior. La Jolla-based commercial real estate company Bollert LeBeau sold the building — a fully leased,...

The McMillin Co. has severed ties with all or part of its Liberty Station properties, including many of the retail stores in the former Naval Training Center and the historic North Chapel, according to records newly filed at the county assessor’s office. McMillin executives, who have declined for...

One of downtown San Diego’s last-developable super-sized blocks, located in East Village, is perfect for a tech superpower. Such is the logic behind the famed Navarra family’s latest project: The SuperBlock@I.D.E.A. District. The multi-phased development seeks to turn a 2.75-acre area — bounded...

A leading earthquake expert says San Diego should consider accelerating replacement of aging water pipes and completing a comprehensive inventory of local buildings, especially structures made of unreinforced brick. While San Diego faces less risk of a major earthquake than Los Angeles or San Francisco,...

A new plan for an office conversion at the old Central Library was approved Wednesday by Civic San Diego, downtown’s planning agency. Efforts to remake the library have languished since 2013 when the city left the building to construct the dome-shaped library on Park Boulevard near Petco Park....

Bankrupt Sears Holding Company wants a white knight to swoop in and save the brand by purchasing 505 owned and leased Sears and Kmart locations, including four in San Diego County. The company said last week in a bankruptcy filing that it hopes to keep the following local stores alive: The 150,380...

Signatures gathered in October by opponents of the Newland Sierra housing project have been verified by the county’s Registrar of Voters office. Barring legal hurdles, it is likely that voters countywide will be asked in March 2020 to reverse the Board of Supervisors approval of the 2,135-home...

Growth & Development

EDCO is doubling the size of its Barrio Logan recycling facility to help San Diego meet the goals of its climate action and “zero waste” plans, which require sharp reductions in how much trash the city puts in landfills. The recycling facility, located just west of Interstate 5 and a few blocks...

The unofficial outcome of the Nov. 6 election has potentially shifted the fate of the largest housing development proposed to be built in Escondido in decades. The Safari Highlands Ranch, a 550-unit luxury home project proposed for the mountains north of the San Diego Zoo’s Safari Park in the San...

Nearby residents say a 20-story apartment building proposed for Bankers Hill is too tall, would damage neighborhood character and cast shadows on a prime part of Balboa Park. Supporters say the 223-foot, 204-unit building would help solve San Diego’s housing crisis and help the city meet goals...

Stuck in procedural red tape, the proposed $3 billion makeover of San Diego International Airport is no closer to clearing its first major hurdle — a certified environmental impact report — despite local agencies recently coming together to agree on a path forward. Tuesday, Kimberly Becker, chief...

Wireless communications company AT&T is borrowing from Apple’s retail playbook with a glossy storefront at Westfield UTC, one of San Diego’s premier malls. The 3,500 square-foot store, which opened Friday, is meant to offer an inviting browsing or lounging experience for mall shoppers who want...

A group of residents of the Harmony Grove area west of Escondido, where two housing developments totaling about 800 homes were recently approved by the county, warned Tuesday that a fire evacuation tragedy like that which happened during the Camp Fire in Paradise could happen here. Standing just...

A lawsuit challenging last year’s approval by the Escondido City Council of a 380-home development on the grounds of the former Escondido Country Club has been thrown out of court. Pending appeal, the decision means developer New Urban West should now be free to purchase the 109-acre country club...

A hearing scheduled for next month to decide if several large housing developments should be approved by the county Board of Supervisors has been delayed indefinitely. The county’s Planning and Development Services Department said in an email Tuesday there were several reasons for the delay. They...

Oakland-based Blue Bottle Coffee, a specialty roaster popular with coffee aficionados, is slated to open its first San Diego store this spring at Carmel Valley’s under-construction One Paseo mixed-use project. A second cafe is planned for the downtown office project, Tower 180, later in 2019. The...

They’re giddy with optimism at San Diego State University. But can the school deliver on its without-a-doubt promise to create a world-class satellite campus in Mission Valley? Everyone’s about to find out. On Tuesday, voters decided to let SDSU negotiate to buy the SDCCU Stadium property from...

A judge will decide next week whether a housing development can proceed on the land of the former Escondido Country Club. Vista Superior Court Judge Ronald F. Frazier heard oral arguments Friday concerning a tentative ruling he issued Thursday that would require the recirculation of an environmental...

A Superior Court judge on Thursday tentatively ruled that an environmental report for a controversial housing project on a shuttered golf course in Escondido was inadequate and needs to be revised. If Judge Ronald Frazier finalizes that decision at a hearing Friday, then the Escondido City Council’s...

A long, contentious political campaign ended Tuesday with voters picking SDSU to redevelop the city’s Mission Valley stadium property where the Chargers once played. Still, San Diegans can expect more waiting — and maybe more acrimonious politicking — before any dirt gets moved around. That’s not...

In the battle to take over the city’s Mission Valley stadium site, Measure G, the SDSU West initiative, prevailed with 55 percent of votes in favor of the campus expansion, while rival Measure E, the SoccerCity initiative, grabbed just 30 percent approval. Measure E and Measure G each sought to...

The six-year saga surrounding the future use of the shuttered Escondido Country Club and golf course could be coming to an end in the next week. On Friday, a Vista Superior Court judge will decide whether the Escondido City Council’s approval a year ago of a 380-unit housing development on the...